ChetlovesMer Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Let me start this post by giving a huge thank you to Marc and his minions. This was a great project choice and great instruction along the way. Although I did quite a few things differently than the way Marc did, I did watch every video related to this series probably at least twice and in some cases many more than that. My wife can now recognize Marc on sight. She saw an article by Marc in an issue of Wood Magazine she said “Hey, isn’t that your Woodwhisperer guy? … You know, I think he’s actually sleeping in this photo.” Next let me say that I began this project on January 15, 2012… YES, I DID SAY 2012! It is difficult for me to remember the vast number of projects that got in the way of this build. I kept coming back to the Roubo like a mistress. Next, let me say this project is NOT complete. You’ll note it is missing a sliding deadman and there are plans to put a set of drawers under the bench. (You can get an idea from the sketch-up drawing I modified. I purchased exactly 12 board feet of material for this project. The two front legs are built from 8/4 Cherry which I purchased to build those 2 legs. After having milled, squared up, glued up, remilled, sized to fit all the other parts including the top, the stretchers, the rear two legs, the chop, etc… I was bordering on homicidal. Besides that, our garbage collectors had to be wondering where all that cherry and walnut sawdust was coming from. So I simply purchased the material needed for those two legs. Yes, I still have a small pile of cherry. I could have laminated a dozen pieces or so together, matching the grain, milling like crazy, and agonizing over alignment, matching grain etc. Still had some milling to do, but it was sure nice just to glue just 2 boards together and say “Look a leg”. The rest of the wood used in this project was either given to me, recycled, left over, or some other way acquired free of cost. (That is to say, I didn’t spend money. Often I spent a lot of time.) The principle parts of the bench are cherry and black walnut (local here in Iowa). I have ebony accents in the dovetail at each corner, (yes, I did 4 dovetails) an ebony plate on top of the sliding dog hole in the wagon vise, an ebony accent band surrounding the black walnut inserts in the chop. The location of the ebony was to some degree dictated by the size of the scraps I had. All of the pegs I made from scrap Walnut. I wanted to use ebony, but have you tried making ebony pegs? … Let me tell you, it ain’t easy. Plus, I think I got more mileage and impact out of the ebony the way I ended up using it. The dogs are scrap mahogany with black suede. I also used black suede in the leg vise. The shelf today is just a piece of MDF coated with mahogany poly-stain that was about to reach its 2 year shelf life so I just used it up coating the MDF shelf before I installed it. (I actually think it looks pretty good all things considered.) Obviously that will change some when I complete the tool chest of drawers which will eventually sit beneath the bench. I used a lot of chalk to mark pieces. I had to align things ahead of time as I laminated to try and get the look I was going for. Chalk worked much better for this than pencil as the pencil lines were difficult to see on the cherry and especially the walnut. Some of the dimensions of my Roubo are different. It is 82” long not 87”. This was due to the material lengths I had available. It is also 37-1/2” tall not 35”. This is due to my length. I’m normal height. I am just a bit more than 6’1”. Modifying the dimensions caused me one problem. The finger hole used to pop out the dog if it’s above the leg didn’t line up. So, I had to enlarge it a bit. Works fine now, but if you look at the photos of my bench, you will likely notice that hole is larger than standard. The biggest challenge was doing 4 breadboards and 4 dovetails. You really have to measure well to get all of that to line up after you pound the dovetails together. Putting ebony in the dovetails that face the wall now seems kind of dumb, but hey I’m learning. Interestingly, I did each breadboard a different way. First one with my circular saw (Okay, that ones the worst one. My circular saw needs to be relegated to deck building not precision work.) Next with my handsaws (A lot better, but not perfect.) Next breadboard I did with the router. It turned out beautiful, but a messy little yuck-yuck. (My router dust collect is the broom in the corner.) I did the last one on the sliding compound miter saw. THAT WORKED GREAT! That would be the way I’d do them from now on. Okay, this post is getting really long. So let me close with this “Did I mention the criss-cross is awesome?” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Great looking bench Chet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Chet, wonderful stuff indeed. I like the dark and rich tones, its a warm and inviting piece. I also like the drawer position, no chance of fouling holdfasts. My bench might be a little more crude....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Chet, wonderful stuff indeed. I like the dark and rich tones, its a warm and inviting piece. I also like the drawer position, no chance of fouling holdfasts. My bench might be a little more crude....... What about holdfasts in the lower holes of the sliding deadman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 What about holdfasts in the lower holes of the sliding deadman? That's a good point, Chip. But perhaps it stems from my lack of understanding on the sliding deadman. My plan is to make a couple of pegs, with a suede surface, for the sliding deadman to use in the lower holes. That way the sliding deadman would provide support for a long odd shaped object in the leg vise. If it's a fairly normal shaped object I would think it would then be mounted so that it could be grabbed by the upper hold-fast hole in the leg (which is at the same height as the center screw in the leg vise, which I assume isn't an accident. Or it could be grabbed by the upper holes of a hold fast in the deadman. If it's so oddly shaped that I need the lower holes of the deadman the peg would be there for support but not clamping. It is completely possible that I do not completely understand all of the uses of the sliding deadman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 If you made the drawers removable, then if you ever ran into a situation where you needed to put a holdfast into the lower holes, you could remove the drawers on that side. I was picturing planing the side of a door. One end is in the leg vise, but it's long enough that you want to secure the other end, you want to keep the top edge clear, so you want a holdfast in the bottom of the deadman. Hopefully, someone who knows more than I do about Roubo benches and deadmen will chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 If you made the drawers removable, then if you ever ran into a situation where you needed to put a holdfast into the lower holes, you could remove the drawers on that side. I was picturing planing the side of a door. One end is in the leg vise, but it's long enough that you want to secure the other end, you want to keep the top edge clear, so you want a holdfast in the bottom of the deadman. Hopefully, someone who knows more than I do about Roubo benches and deadmen will chime in. I'd be interested to see if you need a holdfast in that case or if a dog would work? I like the remove the drawer idea. You are a clever one, Chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmykx250 Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 Man that is a sweet bench Chet. You should be proud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 Thanks Jimmy, This bench, like anything else, has spots where I made mistakes. But of course, 90% of the time I'm the only one who really notices them. I was going to wait to post pics of it until it was completely done, but my son's bedroom furniture will now be getting the lion's share of my attention so it might be a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 Really looks awesome Chet! I love the darker color scheme too. I'm going to snag one of these pictures for the gallery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 What about holdfasts in the lower holes of the sliding deadman? How thick is the sliding deadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 Marc, Thanks a again for all the help building this bench. I'll email you a full sized picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick2cd Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 Wow Chet, this looks great! I'm definitely loving the darker wood. the cherry is just gonna get better with age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Beautiful bench! One look had me thinking about some thick slabs of walnut I have stashed , they need to be part of a bench. Now I just have to get around to building one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Nice work Chet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Thanks to everyone who commented on my bench. I'm actually quite proud of it. It looks really great in "real life". I do really want to thank Marc and his crew for the project. I'm sure I would have built a bench even if Marc hadn't picked this for guild project. But I'm pretty sure I would have bought 2 dozen 2x4's and a vise and been done in an afternoon. With Marc's help I now have a beautiful bench that is as useful and well designed as it is awesome to look at. Not to mention I learned a ton of things in the process. Thanks again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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